A DRAMATIC night of high-scoring action saw several records tumble in the Greene King Oxford & District League.

Going into the last leg, four players had not missed, with two – Neil Lyon from the Three Pigeons and Team Monarch’s Darren Cox – going on to claim the full 18.

The rare maximum had never before been achieved by more than one player on the same night – and it did not stop there.

Lyon became the first player to claim more than one 18 in the same season, while Cox is the first to do so outside of the top two sections.

Playing for Team Monarch in Section 2, the 46-year-old from Blackbird Leys was only the 17th man to join the exclusive maximum club in the league’s 76-year history.

Cox, whose previous best score in 24 years of throwing was 16, was thrilled.

He said: “It’s an excellent feeling to make a bit of historyin aunt sally.

“I’ve come close before and deep down I knew I could do it.

“After the second leg all my teammates were saying ‘it could be your night’, but I tried not to think about it.

“When I got the last one I just punched the air and the other guys rugby tackled me.”

Despite his efforts, Monarch finished empty-handed as they lost 3-0 to a strong Woodman side, who triumphed 28-21, 27-16, 28-23.

Lyon did finish on the winning side, as the Three Pigeons, with Pete Dempsey (6-6-4) also coming close to a maximum, whitewashed Gladiators A 34-23, 29-27, 29-20.

It came less than two months after Lyon’s previous maximum.

The 48-year-old from Witney said: “I’m chuffed to bits to be the first person to get two in a season.

“Better players than me have gone their whole careers without getting one, so this is amazing.

“It would be nice to go for the hat-trick before the end of the season, but that’s probably being a bit greedy.”

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